A lawsuit seeking to force Tulane University to reopen Newcomb College will be argued again before the state 4th Circuit Court of Appeal on Sept. 21.

Louisiana State Museum photoSophie Newcomb Memorial College in the 1890s, more than a century before Tulane University stopped awarding degrees in the college's name as part of post-Hurricane Katrina restructuring.

The court issued the order for the rehearing late Friday.

Although no explanation was given, such sessions generally occur when members of a three-judge panel disagree over whether a trial judge's ruling should be overturned, Tulane attorney Phillip Wittmann said. On a three-judge panel, a 2-1 vote to overrule counts as a tie, Wittmann said, because the district judge's decision also counts as a vote.

At the September hearing, lawyers will face two additional judges, plus the same three judges who heard the case in March. Judges Patricia Murray and Terri Love will join Judges Dennis Bagneris, Roland Belsome and Max Tobias.

Wittmann said such orders are common.

At issue is whether Tulane violated the intent of Josephine Louise Newcomb, Newcomb College's founder, when it closed the undergraduate liberal arts college for women in July 2006 and merged it with the rest of the university as part of post-Hurricane Katrina restructuring.

The plaintiff, a great-great-great-niece of Newcomb's, contends that the terms of her relative's gift compelled Tulane to keep the college open as a separate degree-granting institution. Tulane has argued that no such condition existed.

During her lifetime and in her will, Newcomb gave Tulane about $3.5 million for the school, an amount worth about $50 million in today's dollars.

Civil District Judge Rosemary Ledet sided with Tulane.

Friday's order did not state how the three appellate judges voted. However, Tobias also heard the case in May 2007 and dissented from the other two judges on that panel, who voted to uphold Ledet's decision.

The Future of Newcomb College Inc., an organization made up of Newcomb alumnae and supporters, is underwriting the suit, which has been in litigation since May 2006.

Even though Friday's order did nothing more than call for a new hearing, Renee Seblatnigg, the organization's president, called it "a great step forward in the legal effort to have Newcomb College reopened."